When President Donald Trump began unveiling his cabinet nominees late last year, Democrats vowed to fight his selections tooth and nail. So far, they are losing that battle and handing Trump more power and influence.
Trump’s first success in confirming one of his nominees came earlier this week when former Florida Senator Marco Rubio won the unanimous support of his former colleagues to become Secretary of State. Rubio took his oath of office just hours after Trump, becoming the first official member of the 47th president’s cabinet.
Democrats have mounted more organized resistance to some of Trump’s other nominees, but they have been met with equally determined resolve from Senate Republicans to move forward with confirmation votes.
Trump’s pick for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, easily sailed through the Senate Intelligence Committee on a 14-3 vote. When Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) blocked a quick vote on Ratcliffe before the entire body, new Senate Majority Leader John Thune responded by threatening weekend votes.
“Do we want to vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do,” Thune said. “This can be easy, or this can be hard. Everything we’re doing right now is just stalling. I don’t know what that accomplishes for you.”
In other cases, Democrats have tried to embarrass Trump’s nominees during their public hearings, only to have their efforts backfire spectacularly. Nowhere was this more obvious than during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee by Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for Attorney General. While fielding one bad-faith question after another from Senate Democrats, Bondi managed to expertly display her commitment to upholding the rule of law while exposing the Biden administration’s schemes to weaponize the department against Democrats’ political opponents.
When those tactics haven’t worked, Democrats have turned to their allies in the corporate media to launch nasty smear campaigns against Trump’s nominees. Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr. has been accused of being a “conspiracy theorist” who would “destroy public health.” Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard was called a “strongman apologist” who “cozied up to dictators.” Kash Patel, whom Trump tapped to lead and reform the FBI, has been slandered as an “extremist” and “QAnon conspiracy theorists.”
But no one has faced the full brunt of the left-wing smear machine quite like Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. In a strategy that bears a striking resemblance to the public pressure campaign rolled out against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during Trump’s first term, Hegseth has been labeled a “rapist” and an “alcoholic” over accusations of supposed incidents that allegedly occurred years ago.
The deceptive nature of the crusade against Hegseth was perhaps best captured by a New York Times story that ran with the headline, “Hegseth Ex-Sister in Law Tells Senators He Was ‘Abusive’ to Second Wife.” As popular X account “Libs of TikTok” pointed out, only at the very bottom of the article, which is behind a paywall, does the Times reveal that Hegseth’s ex-wife denies the claims.
In another similar incident, last November, the Times leaked a private email that Hegseth’s mother sent to him criticizing some of his behavior while he was in the middle of divorce proceedings. The Times spun the email as evidence that Hegseth was a serial abuser – without mentioning the fact that Hegseth’s mother sent him a follow-up email two hours later apologizing and has since gone on record attesting that she did not mean what she said and believes Hegseth has high moral character.
Democrats also tried to attack Hegseth during his hearing earlier this month, maligning his character and fitness for the job of leading the Pentagon. Again, however, Hegseth expertly navigated the malicious onslaught of personal attacks while clearly outlining his plans to bolster the effectiveness and efficiency of the military, displaying that he has both the temperament and knowledge necessary to be Secretary of Defense.
Before his hearing, Hegseth was widely believed to be the most vulnerable of Trump’s cabinet picks. After his hearing, some Republican senators who were publicly on the fence about him, most notably Joni Ernst of Iowa, announced that they would be supporting his confirmation, and he now appears likely to be confirmed.
Some Democrats were hopeful that confirmation fights would help touch off a great “mobilization” of liberal activists to oppose Trump, akin to the “resistance” movement that arose at the start of Trump’s term. But this has not materialized, and Donald Trump has never been more popular. RealClearPolitics reported on Wednesday that Trump has an average net approval rating of +12.3 percent – the highest at any point in either of his administrations.
Unfortunately for Democrats, it doesn’t look like attempted character assassinations of Trump’s cabinet picks will earn them the victory they’re so desperately craving. Instead, they may have to face the reality that it’s their own policies and politicians who are hopelessly unpopular.
Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.
